Elevating mechanism for wrapping machines



Jan. 17, 1956 P. e. SCHLEMMER 2,731,109

ELEVATING MECHANISM FOR WRAPPING MACHINES Filed Feb. 26, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR Pblzg g ScZZe' Jan. 17, 1956 P. G. SCHLEMMER 2,731,109

ELEVATING MECHANISM FOR WRAPPING MACHINES Filed Feb. 26, 1954 v 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 I Li H I M 9 5 Jan. 17, 1956 P. e. SCHLEMMER 2,731,109

ELEVATING MECHANISM FOR WRAPPING MACHINES Filed Feb. 26, 1954 '3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Fi .5. T

' INVENTOR Plug? GJCZZGWZWZGT W ATT EY -wrapped around it by the elevating movement. wrapping of the sheet around each box continues as the MECHANISM FOR WRAPPING MACHINES Application February 26, 1954, Serial No. 412,71 6 Claims. (Cl. 187-17) ELEVATING This invention relates to box-elevating means for map ping machines, and more particularly to a mechanism embodied in that type of machine which wraps boxes or similar-articles in cellophane or other suitable sheet material.

Most machines of this character are designed for the wrapping of boxes or similar articles of a given size, and although provision is sometimes made by means of which some of the mechanism in the machines can be modified or altered to enable boxes-of various sizes to be wrapped, the changes required in the machine to enable this to be satisfactorily done are usually those which require the services of a mechanic, the substitution of parts, and sometimes time-consuming labor involving periods of idleness for the machine.

'It is one of the objects of the present invention to provide, in a machine of this character, an elevating device for the boxes to be wrapped, and which conveys the boxes successively-to an elevated position to cause the same to engage against sheets of the wrapping material to start the initial wrapping step. it is a further object of the invention to provide a box-elevating apparatus of this character so arranged that its eifective box-supporting sur- 'face or platen can be enlarged or reduced according to United States Patent the size of boxes to be handled by it, and which adjustmerit of the'box-supporting surface or platen can be easily made by simple crank operation.

It is a further object of the invention to provide adjustment means for an elevating device of this kind which will be of simple, sturdy construction and will enable boxes of various sizes 'to be easily conveyed to the initital wrapping point in the machine.

With these and other objects to be hereinafter set forth in view, I have devised the arrangement of parts to be described and more particularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein an illustrative embodiment of the invention is disclosed,

'Fig. l is a top plan view of the improved box-elevating mechanism, constructed in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the same, and

.Fig. 3 is a view of the same, looking from the right of Fig. 2.

'In a machine of the character of that to which the present invention relates, the wrapping material, which may be cellophane or other suitable sheet material, is generally severed into proper lengths or separate sheets from a supply roll, and the severed sheets are then conveyed to a position above the boxes to be wrapped. The

boxes are successively elevated by the elevating mecha- "nism forming the subject matter of this invention, and

each box is brought up against a sheet which is partially The box and sheet are moved through a folding mechanism or so-called folding box and near the outlet end of which heat is applied against the overlapped end parts ice of the wrapper to thereby seal the same. The wrapped box "emerges from the apparatus and is received upon a travelling belt or other conveying device which carries it to a-point of removal. In my co-pending application Serial No. 404,430, filed January 18th, 1954, is shown means for severing the sheets of required sizes from the supply roll; in my co-pending application Serial No. 409,983, fiied February 12, 1954, is shown the mechanism by which the sheets are conveyed to position above the box elevator. In my application Serial No. 412,721 filed February 26, 1954, is shown the folding-box construction, and the present application relates to themeans which elevates the boxes to bring the same against the sheets, and which elevating means are adjustable tethereby enable boxes of diiferent sizes to be handled with a minimum of eifort in changing the position of the-parts from the accommodation of one size of box'to the'ele'vating of boxes of other sizes.

Referring to the drawings, 1 indicates generally, one of the sides frames of the machine, and 2 a similarside frame, the same being held in spaced relation by suitable bracing means, one of which is the element? seen in "Fig. '3. The frame also includes the horizontal rails seen respectively at '3, 4, 5 and '6. Extending between'the frame elements 1 and 2 is afixed shaft is; upon which a'lev'er-9 is mounted for oscillatign movement. A similar lever spaced from and located parallel to the lever 9 is'also oscillatingly'mounted on the shaft 8, and the two levers are rigidly connected together "bythe cross-rod 3% so that said'two levers 9 and "9a are oscillated together, or-asa unit. The lever 9 is provided with an elongated slot ll 'co'nnected'by the pin it to the crank '12 of an eccentric 1'30. The slot enables the eccentric to be connected to the lever "9 at various selected positions to thereby connected to a shaft -18 extendingfrom a slidable he'acl 26 arranged for vertical reciprocation upon a guide post "27 arising from the frame support '7 and supported at the top-by a'rigid brace member or bar-53. The lever '9whas an end connected at 16a to a'link-17a pivotally attached 'to the-shaft 1 8a extending from the sliding' head 2'6, ascl'ear- '1 y seen in Fig. 3. The arrangement justdesciibedissuch that upon oscillatory movement of the levers 9 andQa by operation of the eccentric 13, the sliding head 26 will be raised and lowered to the required extent toperforrn the required box-elevating movement.

Secured to the top of the sliding head 26 is asu'Pporting bracket 39 provided at thetop with the elevatormain platen 44 which receives the boxes and raises them to the required level for the first wrapping step. 'lnthe several viewsof the drawing, theelevator is shown in its lowered position, or that in which the platen '40 '=1'eceives the boxes, one of which is shown diagrammatically at 44 in Fig. 2 from the box conveyor 43, and elevates the 'boxes so received to the initial wrapping position. Since it is desirable that the wrapping machine shall handle boxes of various sizes, the supporting surface or platen area of the elevator, upon which thebo'xesare-supported and carried upwardly, is arranged to "be adjustable-to properly support such differently-sized "boxes. [The adjustable means by which this result is attainedwillnow be described.

At 41 is shown a fixed box-supporting platen member which is fastened by the screws 44a to the bar 53, the said platen member being in the form of a plate of the shape shown in Fig. 1. Therein it will be observed that this fixed platen member 41 is notched or cut out as shown at 51 and 52 to receive interfitting parts of a supplemental vertically and horizontally movable platen 38a in a telescopic manner. The supplemental platen 38a is secured at its lower end to a horizontally-shiftable plate 35 from which a plurality of guide-pins 34- extend, said pins 34 being slidable through the tubular guides or bushings 55 provided in the slidable head 26. The plate 35 is confined between two collars indicated at 36 and 37 secured on a threaded shaft 32 which is rotative in the plate 35 and is in threaded engagement with an internally threaded guide bushing 60 secured in the slidable head 26. Secured on the end of the threaded shaft 32 is a crank 33 which, when manually rotated, will turn the shaft 32 and thus bring the supplemental platen 38a either toward or away from the main platen 46 and thus increase or decrease the effective supporting surface provided by the two co-operating platens 40 and 38a.

To prevent any tendency of the slidable head 26 from twisting about a vertical axis, and for the purpose of guiding the same in true vertical movement, the shaft 18 is provided with a roller 19, which is guided in a slot or guideway 20 between the spaced vertical bars 21 and 22. These bars have their lower end secured by the angle piece 23 to the reinforcement 7. At the top a notched supporting plate 50 is attached at one end to the bars and at its other end to the bar 25 mounted in the frame.

From the foregoing, the operation of the improved box-elevating means will be readily understood. By means of the eccentric 13 and the linkage connecting the same to the slidable head 26, the head, and the platen 40 attached to head 26, will be moved up and down. In the lowered position of the elevator, or that shown in the drawings, the platens 40 and 38a are located in position to receive boxes 44 as they are moved from the conveyor 43 over the fixed platen 41. That is to say, the surfaces of the platens are substantially flush with one another and with the surface of the conveyor from which the boxes are removed. As each box is received on the elevator, the elevator rises and carriesthe box upwardly to bring the same against the wrapper held above it and initiate the folding of the wrapper about the box. When the partially-wrapped box is moved from oft the elevator, the elevator descends; receives the next box and repeats the cycle just described. By means of the adjustment between the connecting pin 11 and the slot in the lever 9, the vertical travel of the head 26 is controlled and the upper and lower positions of the elevator may be correctly obtained. Also, by rotation of the crank 33, the supplemental elevator supporting surface or platen 38a may be adjusted to or from the main platen 40, telescoping therewith to the reqiured extent to accommodate the size of boxes being wrapped. The adjustment is quick and simple and the operation of the machine will not require material interrutpion while being prepared for a run of boxes different in size from those previously wrapped.

While I have herein described a single embodiment of the invention, it is obvious that the same is not to be restricted thereto, but is broad enough to cover all structures coming within the scope of the annexed claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a wrapping machine of the character described, a reciprocating, box-lifting elevator provided with a boxsupporting platen, a supplemental box-supporting platen member mounted adjacent to the platen and having its upper surface substantially flush with the upper face of the platen, adjustable means for coupling the supplemental box-supporting platen member to the platen, whereby said member can be moved toward or away from the platen, the platen and said box-supporting platen member co-operating in forming a surface for supporting the box to be raised, which surface is increased or decreased in area by movement of the supplemental box-supporting platen member to or from the platen.

2. In a wrapping machine of the character described, a vertical post, a head slidable thereon, a bracket supported on said head and terminating at the top in a boxsupporting main platen, a rotating shaft, an eccentric thereon, an oscillating lever coupled to the eccentric and caused to oscillate by means of said coupling, linkage between the head and the lever to thereby cause the head to vertically reciprocate when the lever is oscillated, a supplemental platen located adjacent to the main platen, a support for said supplemental platen, means slidably coupling said platen support to the slidable head, and an adjustable element operative through the head and connected to the plate-support for moving the supplemental platen toward the main platen to thereby increase or decrease the box-supporting area of the combined platens.

3. In a wrapping machine as provided for in claim 2, wherein the linkage is adjustable to vary the reciprocat ing movement of the head, the platens being provided with interfitting parts to obtain an overlap of the platens as the same are moved toward one another.

4. In a wrapping machine of the character described, a vertical post, a head slidable thereon, an extension projecting from said head, a roller on said extension, at vertical guideway in which said roller travels upon vertical reciprocating movement of the head, a main platen carried by the head, a supplemental platen carried by the head, means operative through the head for moving one of the platens toward the other and thus regulating the effective box-supporting area provided by both platens, and means for vertically reciprocating the head.

5. In a wrapping machine of the character described, a vertical post, a head vertically slidable thereon, an extension projecting laterally from said head, a roller on said extension, a vertical guideway in which said roller travels upon vertical reciprocating movement of the head, a main platen carried by and raised above the head, a supplemental platen carried by the head and having a supporting surface flush with that of the main platen, means operative through the head for moving one of the platens toward the other and thus regulating the effective box-supporting area provided by both platens, the platens having interfitting parts when moved toward one another, and means for vertically reciprocating the head.

6. In a wrapping machine of the character described, a fixed vertical post, a head vertically slidable on the post, an extension projecting laterally from the head, a roller carried on said extension, a pair of spaced uprights defining a vertical guideway between them, the roller travelling in said guideway upon vertical reciprocating movement of the head, a main platen carried by and located above the head, a supplemental platen carried by the head and having an upper supporting surface flush with that of the main platen, means transversely operative through the head for moving the supplemental platen toward or away from the main platen to thus regulate the effective boxsupporting area provided by the top faces of both platens, one of the platens being notched, the other platen having parts for fitment within said notches when the platens are moved toward one another, and means for vertically reciprocating the head.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,397,980 Ouellette Nov. 22, 1921 1,587,495 Arnold June 8, 1926 2,180,163 Milmoe et al. Nov. 14, 1939 2,536,068 Lehmann Jan. 2, 1951 2,574,045 Lapham Nov. 6, 1951 

